


What To Do When Your Students Are Superheroes

by Ronoken



Series: The Miraculous World of Caline Bustier [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Caline Bustier deserves a raise, Caline lays the smack down, Drinking, Freeform, Gen, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Ms. Bustier is the queen we deserve, kind-of reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 04:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ronoken/pseuds/Ronoken
Summary: Caline Bustier knows. In fact, she probably knows more than she should, and when things get real for Marinette, everyone's favorite teacher is there with some cocoa and some stern advice.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: The Miraculous World of Caline Bustier [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654729
Comments: 84
Kudos: 907
Collections: The What To Do Series





	What To Do When Your Students Are Superheroes

So.

In the last few months, Caline Bustier had come to several shocking realizations.

They hadn’t popped up overnight. In fact, they only occurred to her after weeks of carefully observing her students. Her primary job was to educate them, but it was also to protect them. In a city where an insane super-villain had no qualms about possessing children and turning them into walking nightmares, Caline knew she had to take extra precautions to keep her kids safe.

Some of these precautions had been pretty up-front. She had started a meditation group for her kids to help them channel their emotions. She worked every day to make sure they always approached each other with a positive attitude. Still, the biggest thing she had done was pay attention and ask questions. How are they feeling? What are they asking? Is everything okay? More and more as the akuma attacks became almost commonplace, questions were something she paid extra close attention to.

Like now, for instance.

“Akuma alert! Teachers, please gather your students and head for the gymnasium. Akuma alert!”

Principal Damocles was bellowing over the loudspeaker. For a moment, Caline envisioned the older man hunched over his desk, an oscillating fan causing his Owl cloak to dramatically flutter in his office.

Thankfully, her class was well-versed in akuma attacks and knew how to react. In fact, as far as Caline could tell, nearly everyone in the room had been akumatized at one point or another, herself included.

“Ms. Bustier?”

Well, almost everyone.

“Yes, Marinette?” Caline had been waiting for this. Like clockwork, if an Akuma attacked and her students went to file out, she could count on Ms. Dupain-Cheng’s hand going up.

“I, um, have to go to the bathroom. Can I catch up with everyone?”

Caline sighed and gestured towards the door. As Marinette quickly walked by, she flashed a sheepish grin and waved. Caline nodded back and as soon as her student was gone, she opened a spreadsheet on her computer. She typed in the date and put a mark in the ‘Bathroom’ column. So far, she had 11. Caline mused that if Marinette hit a dozen, the young designer might receive a coupon for an extra school dessert.

Other columns included such memorable hits as ‘girl problems’, ‘mom called’, ‘I feel sick’, and Caline’s personal favorite, ‘I forgot something in my locker’,

No sooner than Marinette was out the door, Caline heard a throat clear. Only a couple students were left at this point, and of course, one was Adrien Agreste. He was holding his phone as though he had just received a text. Caline raised an eyebrow at her student while subtly moving her cursor to the column, ‘Dad wants me home’.

“Yes, Mr. Agreste?”

“My, um, my dad just texted. He wants me home right away. For my safety.”

Caline slapped on her best teacher smile and gestured to the door. “Please stay safe, Adrien.”

She thought he said thanks as he ran by, but he was going so fast it was hard to tell.

A couple of things had become clear to Caline as the days, and the akuma attacks, rolled by.

The first, and most painfully obvious, was that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug.

The second was that Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir.

However, the fact that surprised her was that she realized neither of her students knew about the other.

Of course, she wasn’t sure at first. There had been excuses for their disappearances, other possibilities, and even though Ladybug’s hairstyle wasn’t exactly common, it wasn’t entirely unique. There had always been a reasonable doubt as to whether or not Caline was right or just crazy.

And then Startrain happened.

Caline Bustier was fiercely protective of her children, and she was damned if she was going to let anything happen to them while on a field trip. Normally, kids would scatter during an akuma attack, but that day, there had been nowhere to go. They were trapped on a train in space. It wasn’t like Marinette and Adrien could have ducked out.

When she couldn’t find them, Caline panicked. She had torn the compartments apart looking for her missing kiddos, and then suddenly there they were, safe and sound, coming from the end of the train where the two super-powered teens had just saved the day.

Once she had put two and two together, Caline had spent the evening downing a bottle of chardonnay and consuming an abnormally large amount of pastries while combing through the Ladyblog. Stress eating was her go-to, and in times of frustration, the Dupain-Cheng bakery across the street was her spirit animal.

“How the Hell did I not see this earlier?” She slurred at her computer screen. She messily wiped her chocolate-covered fingers on her green button-up jammies and paused a video focusing on Ladybug’s face. It was taken during an interview Alya scored a couple of weeks back.

“I mean, she’s right there! Right freaking there! She doesn’t even changey her hair! Like, I wouldn’t run around with pigtails if I were a superchick. She… The hair! I need more… Why is my bottle empty?”

Admittedly, most of that night was a blur.

What really threw Caline was watching her super-student the next day. Marinette had managed to trip over the door frame, a step, a pencil, and some here-to-fore unknown invisible trip wire next to her desk. This was all before the morning bell sounded.

 _‘The savior of Paris,’_ Caline thought grimly to herself. She considered it a miracle that her student didn’t trip while carrying scissors and doom them all.

“Maybe it’s like Clark Kent,” she said that night to her stuffed bear, Mr. Bearitone. “I mean, he just wears glasses and suddenly bam, no one knows who he is. Is it that? Are we just really, _really_ unobservant? Or is it magic? God, I hope it’s magic. I’d feel really stupid if it was just us being clueless.”

She stared at Mr. Bearitone.

“Well, no stupider than I feel talking to a stuffed bear. I need to date.”

Another box of pastries met an untimely end that night.

All of this of course brought up ethical dilemmas galore for the young teacher. Should she tell someone? The authorities? The girl’s parents? Caline couldn’t imagine Tom and Sabine giving their consent for their daughter to engage in daily death battles by the Eiffel Tower. More horrifyingly, what if they _had_? Did she even want to have that level of parent teacher conference?

Then there was the other one. Cat boy.

Caline truly admired her students and what they were doing for the citizens of Paris, but God almighty, did he have to run around in a skintight leather suit with a bell around his neck? In close-up photos, she confirmed that his costume was actually worse than what she had initially thought.

“He looks like he escaped a dungeon,” she told Mr. Bearitone that evening, bottle clutched firmly in hand. “I mean, I’m guessing that’s what they wear in those sex, the sexy dungeons. Like on Haverson? God, what was his name again? That was a good night. Oh fuck what if he, Chat boy was, what if he was..? No. No, I’m cool. It’s cool. That was a long time ago. I think. I wonder if they’re still there?”

Another bottle of chardonnay was lain to waste.

Still, the strangest thing to Caline was that neither one seemed to know about the other. This was deduced through comparing the Ladyblog videos she now watched nightly to what she was seeing play out in front of her. Online, it was obvious that Chat Noir would have jumped Ladybug if she gave him even half a glance, but she never seemed into it. Honestly, it was painful bordering on hilarious how bad the poor kid had it for his partner. She on the other hand was either oblivious or just not into it, which Caline could respect. Her gal had standards.

And then there was class.

Caline had never kept a spray bottle on hand before, but she was considering it for Marinette. If the girl didn’t stop drooling, Caline feared that someone (probably Marinette) would slip in the puddle and break their neck. Seriously, the girl looked at the hapless male model like he was a piece of meat.

Which, Caline mused, was exactly the point of modeling. Least the poor kid was good at his job.

Still, it blew Caline’s mind that they obviously didn’t know diddly about one another. Watching them beat around the bush was downright painful, and the attempts of the class to get them together were comical at best and hauntingly reminiscent of her own high school experiences at worst.

 _‘Maybe this is why I’ve been drinking so much,’_ Caline thought to herself.

In the end, Caline had decided to let sleeping cats and bugs lie and do her own part by pleading blissful ignorance. While the thought of saying something was constantly in her mind, she also remembered a video where Chat Noir had flung a car across the Paris skyline. There was another where Ladybug had ripped a concrete bridge to pieces just by wrapping her yoyo around it and giving it a tug.

Caline cared deeply about her students, but all things considered, these kids could probably take care of themselves.

Until they couldn’t.

Caline had always thought that if anything, a particularly powerful Akuma would be what finally took Ladybug down. Instead it was the new transfer student from Italy.

“Marinette? Would you please see me in my office after class?” Caline asked. She figured this was as good a time as any. Marinette had just been semi-forced to the back of the class by kids that Caline had assumed possessed more common sense that what they were showing. She watched as her favorite student, while tearing up, relocated away from her friends and her partner-crush-friend.

Marinette looked shocked and like she was about to cry, so Caline flashed her warmest smile to let her know she wasn’t in trouble. Poor Marinette nodded with a quiver in her lip, but to her credit, she didn’t crack.

“Yes, Ms. Bustier,” Marinette said in the most dejected tone Caline had ever heard come from the small girl. Nervously, she glanced to the windows to see if a purple butterfly was waiting to come in, but so far, they were in the clear.

Caline Bustier’s office was located on the second floor at the end of a hall that looked like someone had forgotten to add basic things to, like lighting or a decent stairwell. The room was small, but Caline had cozied the holy Hell out of it. There were no less than five strands of Christmas lights strung around everything, from her tiny, cluttered desk to the small window in the corner to the door frame. The walls had posters of her favorite movies (she had a penchant for classic romances) along with a gigantic one featuring the saviors of Paris, Ladybug and Chat Noir. By the door, on a table overflowing with semi-graded assignments, was a hot plate with a green, tin kettle.

Said kettle was just starting to percolate when a timid knock could be heard from the door.

“Come in,” Caline called out in her friendliest voice. A moment later, Marinette stood in her office, looking smaller than Caline could ever remember seeing the girl. She looked absolutely crushed, and a small ball of rage began to build somewhere deep in Ms. Bustier’s gut.

“You wanted to see me, Ms. Bustier?” Marinette asked.

Grinning, Caline stood and guided the young girl to a cozy, slightly dusty, pink chase. “Please have a seat. Would you like some cocoa?”

Marinette blinked in surprise as Caline grabbed two mismatched mugs from under her desk and started filling them with hot water. Marinette nodded and got out a small ‘thank you’ and she was handed a cup with entirely too many marshmallows. Of course, Caline thought, there’s no such thing. You can _never_ have too many marshmallows.

“So,” Caline asked as she scooted around to her squeaky office chair and turned to face her visitor. She lifted some papers and brought out a familiar looking box. “Would you like a pastry? I get them from the finest bakery in Paris.”

Marinette blushed heavily and accepted one of her favorites, a raspberry scone. “Thank you, you’re too kind.”

“I’m serious,” Caline said, straight faced. “Your parents are the best bakers in France. I can’t get through my week without stopping by for a snack. Honestly, I don’t understand how you’re a rail. Must be your metabolism. Or your workout routine.”

“Excuse me?” Marinette asked, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Never mind," Caline said with a dismissive wave. "So, anything new in your life? Boys? Pets? Do you have any cats? Pets? Do you have any pets?"

"Um, no, ma'am. Pets aren't the best thing to have in a bakery. But I do like cats, though. If I were to get a pet, that is."

"How's everything else going? I saw you and Adrien by the canal the other day," Caline said. She conveniently left out that they were in costume and punching a woman in the face who looked like a rainbow parasol while she shot lasers out of her umbrella fingers. Little details like that didn't matter, anyway.

Marinette sputtered and promptly crashed. Something came out of her mouth, but Caline wasn't sure it was any known language. She coughed and waved off Marinette's exasperation with a grin. “I’m giving you a hard time, Marinette. I’m sorry. I know you’ve had more than enough of that lately.”

Caline watched as Marinette’s eyes glanced downward. With a nod, Caline sighed and gestured around her. “Can you believe this mess? This is what I get for teaching AP Lit this year. I swear. It’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you.”

“But I’m not in your AP Lit class,” Marinette said.

“I know, dear. I am, though, and the work is killing me. I need an assistant. What with all the akuma attacks, the extra assignments, the stress, I need help. In fact, I realized today that there wasn’t anyone I wanted helping me more than you, Marinette. That is, if you’re interested.”

Marinette blushed again and smiled. “Thank you so much for considering me, Ms. Bustier, but I’m already, um, pretty swamped with my, um extra curriculars and the work at the bakery and, um, a lot of things, actually.”

Caline noticed Marinette’s free hand drift to her purse. Caline noticed that Marinette did this a lot when she was nervous or upset.

“Sorry, I don’t think you understand what I was asking,” Caline said with a smile and a shake of her head. “This would be to just check on some things for me, that’s all.”

“Check on some things?”

Caline nodded. “See dear, when there’s an akuma attack for instance, I need someone to check areas where students might be, like the bathrooms. I need to make sure any students hiding there are safe and will join the rest of the class. Would this be something you’d be up for?”

Marinette flashed something that looked a lot like relief coupled with a smile. “I think I can do that for you, no problem.”

“Good. Also,” Caline said, deciding to push things a bit. “I have a little mailbox by my door there.” She pointed towards her door. “I always forget to check it, but I thought it would be nice if maybe you could swing by in the mornings to see if there’s anything there I might have missed.”

“Won’t I be late for class if I do that?” Marinette asked.

Caline shook her head. “You’ll be given a permanent hall pass. You’ll need it if you’re going to be running errands for me throughout the day.”

Marinette again brought her hand to her purse as she yet again flashed a strange smile. “Thank you so much, Ms. Bustier. I really appreciate it.”

They both sipped their coca in silence for a while.

“You know,” Caline said in a strangely detached voice. “When I was in school, there was this one girl. Annette. She claimed that her dad worked in the entertainment business. She could hook you up with the Rolling Stones. She could get you a private audience with Stanley Kubrick. She personally knew Rock Hudson.”

“Really?”

Caline shook her head. “Of course not. She was a liar. It was just who she was. I think her dad actually worked in a local dairy.”

Marinette blinked in surprise.

“She just kept going on, day after day,” Caline continued. “The more outlandish her lies got, the more people around her just kept falling for them. It drove me up the wall because honestly, how did everyone not see she was full of… of it.”

“What did you do?” Marinette asked, her voice slightly too eager.

“I called her out on it,” Caline said, matter-of-factly.

“And?”

Caline took a long sip of her coca. “And then my friends all stopped talking to me. She told them I had attacked her in the washroom out of jealousy. She accused me of spreading rumors about her and trying to discredit her.”

Marinette went still as Caline gently sloshed her coca before taking another sip. “I lost everything I had, socially. If Hawkmoth had been around back then, I guarantee you I would have been akumatized.”

“That’s awful, Ms. Bustier. I, I don’t know…”

Caline shrugged. “It’s fine. I mean, it wasn’t fine then, but it’s fine now. It’s one of the reasons why I ask students that suddenly develop tinnitus to show me some medical paperwork before I start buying into things.”

A growing look of realization dawned on Marinette’s face.

“In this world, you’re going to run into people like Lila. You’re going to face bullies that don’t use their fists to get what they want. They’ll fight you with a smile and a syrupy sweet voice and with everything you do normally but warped and perverted into something that’s just wrong, and it’s going to drive you crazy.”

Marinette brought her knees up to her and clutched her cocoa mug.

“So how do you fight them?”

“You fight them by being yourself,” Caline said. “And yes, I know how that sounds, but it’s true, dear. Lila can’t keep her lies up forever, but you can keep being you. Be the person your friends all fell in love with years ago. Be the person who designs award-winning pieces for Gabriel Agreste and who is actually on a first-name basis with the greatest rock star in the world. Just keep being you.”

Marinette sat in silence for far longer than Caline thought she would. When that silence was broken by a soft sob, Caline set her mug down, scooted her chair across the small divide between them and scooped Marinette into a hug.

“It’s just not fair,” Marinette choked out. “It’s just… All of them turned on me, and I didn’t do anything to them! Anything! And she just lies, and she… she…”

“Shhh,” Caline said. “It’s okay. Let it out. My office is pretty airtight, so I don’t think we’re in danger of an akuma getting in here.”

Marinette snorted into Caline’s shoulder and continued to weep.

“I just wish I could call her out, but no one would believe me,” Marinette said quietly. “And I can’t, I can’t even…”

Caline suddenly understood. She had been listening to the torrent of lies that had been pouring out of the new girl for the last few days and honestly couldn't believe how far-fetched they were; she saved a rock star's cat, she was going to stay with a prince, but the one that had stuck out to Caline was the claim that Lila and Ladybug were besties. When she heard that one, Caline had glanced at that moment towards Marinette, whose face said they were anything but.

“I’m going to ask a big favor of you, Marinette. Is that okay?”

Marinette nodded, her head still resting against Caline’s shoulder.

Caline took a deep breath and for just a moment considered letting things drop.

But Caline Bustier had never, ever been one to just let a student get hurt without doing _something_.

“Let me handle this."

"Oh no," Marinette said, eyes wide. "No, I couldn't do that. Please, Ms. Bustier, this isn't your problem, and I..."

No, I insist," Caline said with a glare. "And while I do, please don’t do anything stupid. She's baiting you. Don’t pick a fight with her in the middle of class. If she gets out of line, I’ll step in where I can, okay? I just, please don’t put her in the hospital. Even if she deserves it.”

Marinette pulled back, her eyes wide with confusion. “Um, Ms. Bustier? I don’t think I could do that even if I wanted to. I mean, I got into a fight once in elementary school, but that was with Alix and it was over a who could get to the top of the jungle gym the fastest and I know she started a little early but I shouldn’t have taken a swing and…”

Caline held up a hand to stop her. “Sweetie. Please. I don’t pretend to know how everything works, but I’ve seen what you can do.”

“I don’t understand, I…”

Caline shot Marinette a deadpan stare. Behind her, Marinette noticed for the first time that the Ladyblog was open on Ms. Bustier's computer, and that the screen was frozen on a closeup of Ladybug's face.

Marinette suddenly went pale.

Caline followed Marinette's gaze and chuckled when she saw the computer screen. Laughing, she focused instead on her cocoa. “Oh, are you a fan, too? I can't blame you. I love her hair, don't you?"

There was a moment of silence. Caline chose not to notice that Marinette's right eye was twitching.

"You know what I wish?" Caline's voice became softer as she looked Marinette in the eyes. "I wish that I had been given the chance to tell Ladybug thank you for saving my life and all of my students, over and over again. I owe her the world. She’s brave, and selfless, and honestly? She’s become my absolute hero. I guess in that way, you and her are a lot alike, because you’re my hero too, Marinette.”

“I am?” Marinette said, snapping out of it. “But, Ms. Bustier, I was ready to punch Lila in the face earlier. I almost got akumatized. I’m not a hero, ma’am. I’m not.”

“I beg to differ,” Caline said. “What was it I heard Adrien call you? The everyday Ladybug of our lives?”

Marinette turned crimson and fiddled with her mug before setting it down.

Caline continued. “My point with all of this, and please understand when I say this that we are officially out of school right now so I can use language I don't condone, is screw Lila Rossi.”

Marinette brought her hand up to her mouth to stop a choked snort.

“Seriously,” Caline said with a bit more oomph than Marinette could remember seeing from her teacher in quite a while. “Your life is amazing. You have a real gift with fashion. Your parents love you to death. You have a life that’s, well, _miraculous_."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, but Caline continued. "And all she has is a bunch of tired, empty lies. People like that always self-destruct, Marinette. I promise.”

Marinette nodded and kept eyeing Ms. Bustier, not knowing exactly what to say next. Caline picked up on her nervousness and shrugged it off. “So please. Don’t let that girl get you down. She’ll figure out as she gets older exactly how far people are willing to believe her garbage. I mean, can you imagine if I started spewing nonsense like she did? What if I suddenly started telling everyone something outlandish like, say, that one of my students was Ladybug?”

Marinette swallowed and tried to keep up a weak smile. “Um, what if you did?”

“I’d be laughed out of a job!” Caline said. “Seriously, can you believe how ridiculous that would sound? No one would believe me. It’s why adults generally don’t go around saying silly things like that. No one would believe them, and adults have no time for liars. Do… Do you understand?”

Marinette slowly nodded. “I believe I do. Thank you, Ms. Bustier. For everything.”

Caline took the empty mug from the small table by Marinette and led her to the door. Before leaving, Marinette turned and asked, “Ms. Bustier? Whatever happened with the girl from your class? Annette?”

Caline grinned as she opened the door. “I don’t know. And honestly? I don’t care. She has no bearing on my life or my happiness. Just like Lila won’t have any on you. Oh! One more thing!”

Caline spun back to her desk and grabbed a packet of papers before turning back to Marinette.

“Your grades have slipped a little. I guess there have been a lot of distractions lately, what with the akumas and all” Caline said. “Here is an extra credit project to get you back on track.”

“Thanks, Ms. Bustier,” Marinette said. She took the packet and flipped through it before asking, “Um, is this a group project? It's kind of huge.”

“It is,” Caline said. “But I’ve condensed it down. Now it just takes two people to finish. I’m pairing you with Adrien, as his grades have slipped as well. Do you think you can work with him?”

Marinette stammered out something that sounded like a yes. It could have also been something about a dishwasher. Caline wasn’t sure.

 _‘Again, this is the savior of Paris’_ , she thought with a bemused smile. “Good luck and remember; I believe in you.”

Caline was still smiling when she closed her door. She picked up the two empty cups to take to the sink in the teacher’s lounge, but not before glancing at the poster of Ladybug and Chat Noir on her wall. “I believe in you, kiddo,” she murmured.

With cups in hand, Caline slipped out the door, her work as a teacher finished for the day.

***

Caline arrived early the next morning, prepping her classroom and humming a tune to herself while listening to the podcast from the Ladyblog the night before. Apparently, there had been an akuma attack last night near the Louvre. Something about a disgruntled food truck worker turning into a churro wizard. Honestly, if Caline hadn’t been the victim of so many attacks she would have sworn that Alya was making half of her reports up.

She watched as her students filed into the room. Most were dragging, as was customary for teenagers, but two were looking predictably worse for wear. The bell hadn’t rung yet, and Caline was about to excuse Marinette and Adrien to the library to work on their project (and possibly sneak a nap) when a laughing voice perked up from the other side of the room.

“Did you see the attack last night? It was so incredible! Still, I can’t believe that Ladybug came to see me, even after going through all that. She is _such_ a good friend.”

Lila was talking to Rose and Sabrina, who were busy hanging on the grinning student’s every word. Caline glanced over to Marinette and Adrien to see if they were paying attention, and it turned out they indeed were. Adrien was glaring with a perturbed look, while Marinette was gripping her desk so hard her knuckles were turning white.

“Why was she at your place so late?” Rose asked. “Is everything okay? Were you in danger of being akumatized, too?”

Lila laughed and shook her head. Caline tensed a bit; that laugh was familiar. Everything about the situation was familiar. For a moment, Ms. Bustier felt like she was back in school, listening to Annette all over again.

“Oh, heaven’s no!” Lila said with a wave of her hand. “See, she’s such a good friend that she wanted to share with me. I really shouldn’t be saying anything about it, but I guess she wanted to get in some girl talk. Apparently, Chat Noir, and this is a little embarrassing, but he has a secret crush on me!”

“Get out of town!” Sabrina said. Rose squealed and cupped her hands to her face.

“It’s true!” Lila said. She pulled a small, folded note out of her bag and handed it to Rose. “He asked her to slip me this letter the next time she saw me. I was so flattered! I mean, he’s _such_ a gorgeous superhero!”

“You are the luckiest girl on the planet,” Rose said, wistfully.

“Please, it’s not like I could actually date him,” Lila said with a dismissive shrug. “I mean, that would put everyone here in danger, and I care too much about all of you for that to happen.”

Sabrina and Rose came in for a hug with Lila, while Caline glanced again to the other side of the room. Adrien was staring wide-eyed at Lila, and while she wasn’t sure, Caline was pretty positive the young man had just mouthed _‘what the fuck’_?

Marinette, on the other hand, was so tense that she was about to split in two. She had turned a shade of purple that Caline had only seen on computer monitors, and her fingers were actually embedded in her desk, but the girl said nothing. Her glare, though. That could have melted lead.

Caline waited until Marinette happened a glance to the front of the room, and their eyes locked. Caline flashed a quick smile and winked.

“Miss Rossi,” Caline said in a voice that dripped casualness. “I almost forgot, please return this form with your mother’s signature.” She took a paper from her desk and set it in front of Lila.

“Sure, but what is it?” Lila asked while reading the form.

“It’s in relation to your parent-teacher conference,” Caline said. “I spoke with the principal, and we agreed that your medical conditions and how they’re impacting your ability to learn is something that we should all address together.”

Lila’s eyes went wide for the briefest of moments, but she recovered quickly. “That may be difficult, Ms. Bustier,” Lila replied. “My mother is a diplomat, you know. She’s currently out of the country, and I’m honestly not sure when she’ll be returning. I’m so sorry.” Lila started to slide the form back to Ms. Bustier, who pushed the form right back to Lila.

“Oh, you don’t understand, dear,” Caline said as her smile left her eyes. “I already confirmed the appointment with your mother, and she’s expecting this form. We spoke this morning. Apparently, she’s currently in Paris and is _more_ than willing to discuss your recent ailments. In fact, she seemed a bit confused, even alarmed when I brought up recent class activities. It was a very odd conversation… To tell the truth.”

Lila blanched and crumpled into her seat, stuttering after Ms. Bustier. Caline made her way back to the front of the class and noticed that Marinette was busy covering her mouth and either coughing or laughing, Caline couldn't quite tell which. Adrien was a little more composed, but there was still a slight smile on his lips.

“Good morning, everyone! Let’s start the day as we always do, by complementing each other.”

She may not have been a superhero. She may not have landed that sweet teaching gig in Manila out of grad school, or that acting gig when she was 19, or even a steady romantic interest. She may have had a cramped office and a closet of an apartment. She may have spent her evenings online with a stuffed bear under one arm and a pastry in hand and nursed a somewhat unhealthy drinking habit when she was stressed, but Caline Bustier knew several things.

She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Marinette, in or out of costume, was her hero.

She knew that she loved the girl and saw so much of her younger self in her that it hurt.

She knew that she would never be able to properly repay her or Adrien for the work they did.

“Let’s start with Marinette and Adrien. Come down to the front, please. Look each other in the eye and say something pleasant about one another.”

Marinette let out a sound that only dogs could hear while the girls in the class giggled and whispered to one another. Lila was wringing her hands together and smiling so hard that Caline was sure the girl was going to break her teeth.

She may not have been a superhero, but Caline Bustier could do a _little_ something to say thank you, and that was enough for now.


End file.
